By The Associated Press

Today in History

Today is Thursday, Feb. 27, the 58th day of 2020. There are 308 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 27, 1922, the Supreme Court, in Leser v. Garnett, unanimously upheld the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed the right of women to vote.

On this date:

In 1801, the District of Columbia was placed under the jurisdiction of Congress.

In 1814, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93, was first performed in Vienna.

In 1933, Germany’s parliament building, the Reichstag (RYKS’-tahg), was gutted by fire; Chancellor Adolf Hitler, blaming the Communists, used the fire to justify suspending civil liberties.

In 1939, the Supreme Court, in National Labor Relations Board v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corp., effectively outlawed sit-down strikes.

In 1943, during World War II, Norwegian commandos launched a successful raid to sabotage a German-operated heavy water plant in Norway. An explosion inside a coal mine near Bearcreek, Montana, killed 74 miners and one rescue worker. The U.S. government, responding to a copper shortage, began circulating one-cent coins made of steel plated with zinc (the steel pennies proved unpopular, since they were easily mistaken for dimes).

In 1951, the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, limiting a president to two terms of office, was ratified.

In 1960, the U.S. Olympic hockey team defeated the Soviets, 3-2, at the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, California. (The U.S. team went on to win the gold medal.)

In 1973, members of the American Indian Movement occupied the hamlet of Wounded Knee in South Dakota, the site of the 1890 massacre of Sioux men, women and children. (The occupation lasted until the following May.)

In 1982, Wayne Williams was found guilty of murdering two of the 28 young blacks whose bodies were found in the Atlanta area over a 22-month period. (Williams, who was also blamed for 22 other deaths, has maintained his innocence.)

In 1991, Operation Desert Storm came to a conclusion as President George H.W. Bush declared that “Kuwait is liberated, Iraq’s army is defeated,” and announced that the allies would suspend combat operations at midnight, Eastern time.

In 1998, with the approval of Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s House of Lords agreed to end 1,000 years of male preference by giving a monarch’s first-born daughter the same claim to the throne as any first-born son.

In 2002, at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, Alicia Keys won five prizes, including song of the year for “Falliníî; Irish rockers U2 won four Grammys, including record of the year for “Walk On“; album of the year went to the “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” soundtrack.

Ten years ago: In Chile, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake and tsunami killed 524 people.